Blight of the Feral
by OverlordMao
Summary: Mahora is in ruins. Overrun by the undead, and quarantined; trapping the zombies and the surviving denizens. Now, two factors struggle for survival: the survivors of Mahora, and the Ferals. Asuna must struggle to survive being a Feral; and uncover the mystery of Mahora's destruction and the birth of the Ferals. Inspired by the latest chapters of UQ Holder! and Hellsing.


_"Stop… please!"_

_"I'm sorry… But, there's no other way..."_

_"No, please… put that away! Please! No… STOP!"_

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><p><strong>Blight of the Feral<strong>

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><p>Asuna shot up in the wake of her nightmare. Her breath was heavy, and her heart is pounding. From her surroundings, Asuna was on the floor of her dorm. The room was utter bedlam; windows are barricaded with planks, the bunk bed was wrecked, and there are no signs of either Negi or Konoka in the room.<p>

"What's going on? What happened here? Where's Negi and Konoka?" she wondered.

Before she get an answer, a loud knock is heard from the door. The knocking gets repeatedly faster as Asuna heads for the door.

"Negi...?" she said as she reached for the knob.

Suddenly, a hand shot out from the door; scaring Asuna. The door broke down to reveal a very sickly man with pale skin, a large bloody wound on his arm and pupiless eyes. Asuna let out a scream as the man charged and tackled her to the ground. It open its mouth and goes to bite Asuna's neck; but, she desperately tries to push the man away.

"Get...off...of me!" she yelled while struggling to get the zombie off. Asuna grabbed a nearby vase while holding the man at bay and smashed it to his head. She pushed the disoriented zombie aside and grabbed a desk chair; lifting it over her head and faced the recovering zombie. With one loud cry, she smashed the chair to the man's head and it falls limp to the ground. Asuna bashed it in the head again for safety measures before throwing the chair aside, and quickly leave the room.

"I have to find Negi, he'll know what's going on!"

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><p>She raced down the hallway; only to find more of the undeads down the stairs. Most of them are Mahora students, all with the same features as the undead man from the room.<p>

"No way… there's more of them?"

Asuna make a sharp 180 and dashed to the opposite hallway; with the zombified students in her tail. As she tries to look for the exit, the zombies grow in numbers.

"Damn it, there's no end to these guys!" cursed the running redhead.

Eventually she reached the first floor and darted to the front door. As Asuna quickly shut the door, she look in horror of the state the Mahora is in. The academy in ruins, red clouds cover the sky, and the school grounds has been occupied by the undead.

"No… It can't be…!"

Suddenly, the front door behind her broke down; and the horde of zombies swarmed out of the building. Asuna was surrounded. With nothing around her to make an impromptu weapon. Asuna reached for her pockets in hopes of activating her artifact. However, she couldn't find her card.

"No… where is it? Don't tell me I lost the stupid thing!" she fearfully said while frantically searched both her pockets. But, the zombies charged one by one before the redhead gets to react.

Suddenly, a pipe bomb was tossed in front of the zombies and Asuna. Knowing the danger, Asuna jumped back and the bomb sets off; destroying a chunk of the horde, and knocking the redhead back. In the wake of the moment, a familiar dark-skinned gunslinger appeared and shoot down the zombified students in their heads. The gunwoman emptied her clips as Asuna run up to her with joy.

"Mana! Am I glad to see you!"

But, Asuna was quickly met by Mana's pistol as the half-Puerto Rican gave her a piercing glare.

"Don't move, Feral." said the cold gunslinger.

"M-Mana… What's gotten into you? It's me, Asuna! Your classmate!" Asuna said.

"I know who you are; but, I'm afraid I can't let you walk amongst the living again and infect us."

Asuna was confused by Mana's words; growing more scared as tension pressed on.

"What are you talking about? What do you mean again? Are… are you saying that I'm… one of them?"

Mana sighed; knowing the fact that she is clueless of the state she's in. But, she cocked both of her guns and ready to give her the answer.

"Mana, please… don't…!" tears leak out of Asuna's eyes as she fell on her back while Mana held her at gunpoint.

"I'm sorry. Consider this a mercy kill."

Mana was ready to pull the trigger of her gun. But suddenly, she nearly dodged an attack at a blinding speed and earned a scratch on her arm. The unknown attacker is shrouded in a cloak with piercing blue eyes gazing at the gunslinger.

"Damn, a fast one!" Mana fired at the elusive enemy; but it dodged every one of her shot and grabbed Asuna. She keep firing with her good arm; but it escaped with Asuna in tow. She tried firing again; but, her clip was empty. She threw her gun in frustration and gripped her wounded arm. "Damn it..."

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><p>Meanwhile, the hooded figure dashed through the deserted academy while Asuna tries to struggle herself free.<p>

"Let me go! Where are you taking me?!" the redhead yelled.

The hooded figure clasped Asuna's mouth shut and hid inside an abandoned building. It peered out the window to see anyone following them; and sighed in relief when it looks safe.

"Look's like we're safe; no one's after us." it said with a female voice.

Asuna breaks away from the hooded figure. "What do mean, no one's after us? What's going on; who the hell are you?" she asked furiously.

"You don't remember? Come on, how can you forget how I sound like, Bells?"

Asuna was surprised of the familiar nickname. "Wait, you…?"

The figure took off its hood; revealing herself to be Ayaka. From her appearance, she looks the same; all but the key differences. Her pupils appear to be slitted, her teeth became shark-like, and her nails became claws; used previously to attack Mana.

"Ayaka… what happened to you?" asked Asuna.

"You really don't know? The same thing that happened to you, Asuna." Ayaka replied.

"What are you talking about? First Mana, and now you… None of this makes any sense!" yelled the frustrated redhead.

"Then, let me make it clear for you." Ayaka took out a mirror shard from her cloak and show it to Asuna. As it revealed in her reflection, she holds the same feature as Ayaka; the difference is that she has green and blue eyes. She took a step back in horror after her revelation.

"That's… me? What… what am I?"

"The reason why Mana tried to kill you, is that you're not alive. You're… we're undead; Ferals, as they branded us." answered Ayaka. "As you can see, Mahora is in ruins. Almost everyone we knew are either dead or undead. And all that because of that one infection; and we happened to become Ferals because of that."

Asuna looked down in disbelief; mentally denying the fact that she is undead, like the rest she saw. Ayaka placed her hand on her shoulder and look her eye-to-eye.

"I know that this is very shocking news. But, right now, you can sulk later. We need to get to our refuge. I'll explain on the way, come on!"

She leads Asuna down the dark building; hoping that she can take her away from the danger, and finding safe haven she promised.


End file.
